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Samsung Galaxy S4 explodes, injures two and burns down a house in Hong Kong.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Explodes and Burns Down a Home in Hong KongSamsung Galaxy S4 Explodes and Burns Down a Home in Hong Kong

Analysis:

Circulating messages, also various news articles claim that a man in Hong Kong met with an accident as his Samsung Galaxy S4 Smartphone exploded, burning down his apartment, injuring two people and that the fire spread to a Car parked outside. It is a fact that such an incident was reported, but the authenticity of the Phone and the way it was used needs to be verified.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Explodes and Burns Down a Home in Hong Kong

The incident was first reported by a Chinese website Xianguo.com on 30 July 2013, which said that a couple in Hong Kong suffered injuries after a Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone burst into flames and set their house on fire. According to the man who is known as Mr. Du, he was playing the game “Love Machine” on his Samsung Galaxy S4 when the phone suddenly exploded and burst into flames. Du quickly threw his phone under the couch, after which the fire had supposedly spread all over his apartment. Along with his wife and pets, Du ran out of his house immediately, while sustaining minor injuries. This explosion of fire is said to have burnt down the apartment and the fire even spread to a Mercedes car that was parked next to the building. According to media reports, it took 30 minutes for the firefighters to douse the fire.

It should be noted that this is not the first time high end Smartphones from Samsung and Apple have exploded and injured its users. However, in most of these cases, the fire was caused because of using third-party batteries or chargers. Du claimed that his Samsung Galaxy S4 was having its original battery and that he was using the charger that came with it. According to Phone Arena, it was not clear whether the S4 itself was a counterfeit unit, as the man supposedly bought it from someone else.

Meanwhile, Samsung Hong Kong said that it will investigate into the matter and perform some chemical analysis of the phone’s burnt remains in order determine if the Galaxy S4 phone and its parts were genuine, and if they actually caused the fire accident.

So at this point of time, it is not clear if the Samsung Galaxy S4 that exploded is a genuine smartphone or not. But nevertheless, like the smartphone companies warn, to prevent such fire accidents, people must avoid using third party chargers and batteries and also make sure their phones are genuine and not counterfeit units. For further information about safe use of mobile phones, read this related article.